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Listen "#20: Pier Gustafson — Drawing Fast, Thinking Slow"
Episode Synopsis
Artist and illustrator Pier Gustafson on living a simple life with what makes him smile, the messy creative process behind projects, clients, and deadlines, and being an artist in the twenty-first century.
Pier is an artist who presently designs maps, monograms, logos, invitations and other illustrations usually for print. His passion is drawing. Though he explores various media from simple pencil to the iPad he tends to favor vintage fountain pens, which he collects and repairs and sells to other artists and calligraphers. (A pen made 100 years ago still works and works better than anything made today.) He is a “maximalist” in that he surrounds himself with objects which can “spark joy” when arranged and juxtaposed in creative ways. His man-cave is complete with jury-rigged “stalagmites” made of shelves balancing atop filing cabinets filled with stuff which may be used in his art.
He does like to smile by making others smile. The art he creates for himself has a simple goal: to make you think and to smile.
He is single, has a sharp-fanged cat named Orca, plays the ukulele and rides a bright red, fat-tired bike to do his shopping.
He’s about to turn 63 years old, but still has yet to grow up.
Connect with Pier on YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, or his Website.
Favorite quotes
"For me, more is more, aesthetically."
"Spending thirty minutes on a sketch is sometimes twenty minutes too long."
"If you're done doing what you like to do, find a job that you can do nine to five or even less, get a part time job waiting tables, and then spend the rest of your free time doing what you want to do."
"I think in a way I do have that simplicity, even if it involves lots of stuff. […] I have all of this stuff for the purpose of making me smile."
"Starting from scratch is sometimes the best thing you could do. You just throw the thing away and start completely over."
"What I save on commuting, I lose in productivity. Living and working in the same place is something that a lot of people think would be a great idea […] but I don't think it's all that great for me."
"Remember to turn things off, completely turn things off. Not just when you're at a movie theater, or dinner, just turn things off and go outside and ride your bike or go to the grocery store or read a book, a real book."
Links
Lettering
Calligraphy
Good Service Pen Co, Minneapolis
Technical pens and rapidographs
Fountain pens
Nono's sketch of MIT's Killian Hall
Felt-tip pens: Micron Pigma, Molotov Blackliner, Staedler Pigment Liner
Art Deco (art movement)
Ikebana (Japanese term)
Urban sketchers
Letterpress printing
The Dot and the Line by Chuck Jones (short film)
Wacom Cintiq (product)
Sketch Club for iPad (app), "The love child of Photoshop and Facebook."
Mylar
Feng shui (Japanese term)
Vexillology
Pier at Brickbottom Artists Open Studios (video)
Pier's hat (photo)
Some of Pier's works, monograms, and invitations.
Books
The Art of Living by Saul Steinberg
Mr. Pine's Mixed-Up Signs by Leonard Kessler
The Dot and the Line by Norton Juster
People mentioned
Saul Steinberg
Johnny Carson
Chapters
00:33 · Intro
02:05 · Pier Gustafson
03:12 · Fountain pens
04:07 · Artist
05:45 · Studio/home separation
06:53 · Pier's studio
09:23 · Routines
10:57 · Complexities
12:24 · Habits
13:35 · Meditative moments
14:53 · Music and documentaries
15:53 · Disconnection
16:29 · Living with more
18:42 · Born in the wrong century
19:51 · New tech for art and design
21:10 · Your best ideas
24:33 · Deadlines, clients, and creativity
25:39 · Deliberate practice
26:26 · Work in progress
27:35 · Calling it done
29:48 · Favorite project
32:24 · Letterpress printing
33:07 · Success
34:52 · Urban sketchers
37:02 · Scope
39:45 · Lightning round
39:51 · Morning message to yourself
40:50 · Someone successful
41:22 · Your message to the world
41:44 · Message to your 20-year-old self
43:16 · Boredom
44:00 · Money
45:13 · Unique objects
46:57 · Art
47:45 · Craft
48:48 · Making your live easier
49:29 · Books
51:08 · Digital tools
52:15 · Sketch Club
53:04 · Pro tip for the iPad and Apple Pencil
54:47 · Healthy tech
55:36 · Online communities
56:13 · Slowing down
56:48 · Busyness
57:00 · Distractions
58:12 · Vexillology
58:45 · Artist's advice
59:48 · Your future
01:00:24 · Money
01:01:25 · A challenge
01:03:13 · Looks like a drawing
01:04:45 · Connect with Pier
01:05:08 · When we actually met
01:06:03 · This podcast
01:07:17 · Messy
01:08:59 · Thanks
01:09:58 · Ukelele song
I'd love to hear from you.
Submit a question about this or any previous episodes.
Join the Discord community. Meet other curious minds.
If you enjoy the show, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps.
Show notes, transcripts, and past episodes at gettingsimple.com/podcast.
Theme song Sleep by Steve Combs under CC BY 4.0.
Follow Nono
Twitter.com/nonoesp
Instagram.com/nonoesp
Facebook.com/nonomartinezalonso
YouTube.com/nonomartinezalonso
Pier is an artist who presently designs maps, monograms, logos, invitations and other illustrations usually for print. His passion is drawing. Though he explores various media from simple pencil to the iPad he tends to favor vintage fountain pens, which he collects and repairs and sells to other artists and calligraphers. (A pen made 100 years ago still works and works better than anything made today.) He is a “maximalist” in that he surrounds himself with objects which can “spark joy” when arranged and juxtaposed in creative ways. His man-cave is complete with jury-rigged “stalagmites” made of shelves balancing atop filing cabinets filled with stuff which may be used in his art.
He does like to smile by making others smile. The art he creates for himself has a simple goal: to make you think and to smile.
He is single, has a sharp-fanged cat named Orca, plays the ukulele and rides a bright red, fat-tired bike to do his shopping.
He’s about to turn 63 years old, but still has yet to grow up.
Connect with Pier on YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, or his Website.
Favorite quotes
"For me, more is more, aesthetically."
"Spending thirty minutes on a sketch is sometimes twenty minutes too long."
"If you're done doing what you like to do, find a job that you can do nine to five or even less, get a part time job waiting tables, and then spend the rest of your free time doing what you want to do."
"I think in a way I do have that simplicity, even if it involves lots of stuff. […] I have all of this stuff for the purpose of making me smile."
"Starting from scratch is sometimes the best thing you could do. You just throw the thing away and start completely over."
"What I save on commuting, I lose in productivity. Living and working in the same place is something that a lot of people think would be a great idea […] but I don't think it's all that great for me."
"Remember to turn things off, completely turn things off. Not just when you're at a movie theater, or dinner, just turn things off and go outside and ride your bike or go to the grocery store or read a book, a real book."
Links
Lettering
Calligraphy
Good Service Pen Co, Minneapolis
Technical pens and rapidographs
Fountain pens
Nono's sketch of MIT's Killian Hall
Felt-tip pens: Micron Pigma, Molotov Blackliner, Staedler Pigment Liner
Art Deco (art movement)
Ikebana (Japanese term)
Urban sketchers
Letterpress printing
The Dot and the Line by Chuck Jones (short film)
Wacom Cintiq (product)
Sketch Club for iPad (app), "The love child of Photoshop and Facebook."
Mylar
Feng shui (Japanese term)
Vexillology
Pier at Brickbottom Artists Open Studios (video)
Pier's hat (photo)
Some of Pier's works, monograms, and invitations.
Books
The Art of Living by Saul Steinberg
Mr. Pine's Mixed-Up Signs by Leonard Kessler
The Dot and the Line by Norton Juster
People mentioned
Saul Steinberg
Johnny Carson
Chapters
00:33 · Intro
02:05 · Pier Gustafson
03:12 · Fountain pens
04:07 · Artist
05:45 · Studio/home separation
06:53 · Pier's studio
09:23 · Routines
10:57 · Complexities
12:24 · Habits
13:35 · Meditative moments
14:53 · Music and documentaries
15:53 · Disconnection
16:29 · Living with more
18:42 · Born in the wrong century
19:51 · New tech for art and design
21:10 · Your best ideas
24:33 · Deadlines, clients, and creativity
25:39 · Deliberate practice
26:26 · Work in progress
27:35 · Calling it done
29:48 · Favorite project
32:24 · Letterpress printing
33:07 · Success
34:52 · Urban sketchers
37:02 · Scope
39:45 · Lightning round
39:51 · Morning message to yourself
40:50 · Someone successful
41:22 · Your message to the world
41:44 · Message to your 20-year-old self
43:16 · Boredom
44:00 · Money
45:13 · Unique objects
46:57 · Art
47:45 · Craft
48:48 · Making your live easier
49:29 · Books
51:08 · Digital tools
52:15 · Sketch Club
53:04 · Pro tip for the iPad and Apple Pencil
54:47 · Healthy tech
55:36 · Online communities
56:13 · Slowing down
56:48 · Busyness
57:00 · Distractions
58:12 · Vexillology
58:45 · Artist's advice
59:48 · Your future
01:00:24 · Money
01:01:25 · A challenge
01:03:13 · Looks like a drawing
01:04:45 · Connect with Pier
01:05:08 · When we actually met
01:06:03 · This podcast
01:07:17 · Messy
01:08:59 · Thanks
01:09:58 · Ukelele song
I'd love to hear from you.
Submit a question about this or any previous episodes.
Join the Discord community. Meet other curious minds.
If you enjoy the show, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps.
Show notes, transcripts, and past episodes at gettingsimple.com/podcast.
Theme song Sleep by Steve Combs under CC BY 4.0.
Follow Nono
Twitter.com/nonoesp
Instagram.com/nonoesp
Facebook.com/nonomartinezalonso
YouTube.com/nonomartinezalonso
More episodes of the podcast Getting Simple
#74: Andy Payne — Grasshopper 2
11/06/2024
#69: Q&A with Nono — Podcasting Tips
26/10/2022
In God we trust